


They Can Stare

by walkydeads



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Kissing, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, For a crowd, Homophobia, M/M, Polyamory, sticking it to homophobes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-23 21:45:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4893457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkydeads/pseuds/walkydeads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>based on the tumblr prompt: "wanna make out in front of these same-sex marriage protestors to piss them off?“ for chris and josh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Can Stare

“Fucking seriously?”

Mike’s the first person to notice anything out of the ordinary, which isn’t too much of a surprise. He and Chris are the tallest people in their group, and Chris is too engrossed in his phone to be worried about his surroundings, practically having to be led around by his belt loops whenever he falls behind.

Downtown Calgary is in the middle of its yearly Fall Festival and the entire group has driven out to enjoy the festivities and craft beer. It’s a lovely festival and they can’t really regulate underage drinking, so it’s a regular staple in the group’s routine, even though all of them can finally legally drink for the first time

The area is even more packed than usual, so it takes everyone a moment to figure out and focus in on what Mike’s so pissed about. But when they do, a cold feeling somewhere between disgust and annoyance passes through all of them. 

The protesters are numerous, their signs big and bright. Stuff like “HOMOSEXUALITY IS AN ABOMINATION” and “GAY IS NOT THE WAY” and “GAYS, LESBIANS, BISEXUALS AND TRANSGENDERS WILL BURN IN HELL”. (Sam remarks with wonder about how the last one even all fit on a sign, and her girlfriend Beth elbows her in the ribs). Some people are snickering, some nodding in agreement, some taking pictures, but most passersby just roll their eyes before continuing on their way.

The group stops, watching the group form a half circle around the street performers in an attempt to detract attention from them. They start waving their signs around, chanting scriptures and slogans, and it starts to draw in a crowd, most people filming the spectacle on their phones.

Josh nudges Hannah and gets her to pull her phone out too, whispering something to her that has her widening her eyes and looking at her brother in a amazement for a moment before nodding.

“Do you believe this?” Emily asks, turning to Jess - her and Mike’s official/unofficial girlfriend - who has her arms crossed and a deep frown etched into her face, “I mean, the nerve.”

Despite Emily’s ‘over it’ tone, there are tears in her eyes, and as Mike wraps an arm around her, she adds quietly, “Maybe it was stupid of me, but I didn’t think people actually still did stuff like this.”

She buries her face in Mike’s shoulder, and Jess places a comforting hand on her back, the both of them giving her quiet assurances. Josh is pretty stone-faced and unemotional, looking straight ahead and seeming to be miles away mentally, but Chris, for his part, looks more than a little moved.

“They shouldn’t,” he says, quietly but firmly, heart pounding for no apparent reason, “I mean, even if they do actually believe that with all their hearts, there isn’t a point in being mean, you know? What does that actually accomplish besides hurting people and making them upset? It’s obviously just a rouse because they feel inadequate and desperately want attention they don’t know how to get otherwise, right?”

Emily peeks up from Mike’s shoulder to give Chris a grateful smile, and Mike nods in approval.

“I don’t think we should let this ruin the night,” Matt offers with a shrug, hands in his pockets, “I mean, that’s what they want to do to people, essentially, so why give them that power?”

“We should probably, um. Just ignore them,” Ashley agrees meekly, “I mean, they’re just doing this for shock value, right? If no one pays them any mind, they’ll go away.”

“Fuck that,” Jess says sincerely, her hands balling into fists and falling to her sides, “That’s Claire Parish, we went to high school with her. She kissed Megan Dunbar on a dare and broke her heart for laughs! And now she has the balls to stand over there with those fuckers? I should go over there and kick her ass!”

Matt tries to placate her, holding up his hands and speaking in a soothing voice, “Now, I don’t think that’s–” 

“Claire Parish, eh? I have a better idea,” Josh says his face lighting up with mischief. He grabs a very confused Chris by the wrist and drags him through the crowd, which parts easily for them. They make it across the street and Josh stops right between the protesters and the street performers.

“Oh my god, hi! Hi, Claire!” He exclaims in a high pitched yell, waving with one hand, the other still wrapped around Chris’ arm, “So nice to see you! You remember Christopher here, right?”

Claire, an unassuming mousy girl who certainly didn’t look like she held such strong beliefs in opposition to basic human rights and equality, blushes and nods. It was no secret that she’d developed a crush on him between sophomore and junior year, mostly because Chris had shed a lot of weight and gained a lot of muscle that summer (and also learned how to apply hair gel, Josh jokingly would add whenever this was brought up), and she had been part of a clique that practically formed a fan club in his honor.

“Well, guess what,” Josh says, his tone going lower and a little more sinister, and then he’s grabbing Chris by the jacket and hauling him into a kiss. Chris, though seemingly unaware at first of Josh’s plans, catches on quick and kisses back, his hands coming up to tenderly cup Josh’s face.   
Josh makes a low pleased noise and pulls Chris even closer, hands sliding down Chris’ chest to wrap around his waist. His tongue comes out and sloppily traces Chris’ top lip before hungrily diving back in to press their lips together.

For his part, Chris matches Josh’s every move. His blood is pounding in his ears and it only slightly drowns out the cheers from the crowd and the disapproving murmurs from the protesters. He flushes when he thinks about all the attention that will be on them when they part, and figures it might as well be worth it. He catches Josh’s bottom lip between his teeth and gives it a gentle tug, making Josh moan outright and whisper his name.

“Chris,” he repeats softly after another few seconds of kissing, bracing his hands on Chris’ arms and gently pushes, “Stop, we can’t keep… I’m…”

He lets go of Chris’ waist and steps back, his face flushed and eyes blown wide open. Chris blinks back for a moment blankly before nodding, mouthing ‘sorry’. In unison, they shift gears as confident smiles flicker onto their faces. Together, they raise middle fingers to the protestors to raucous applause and cheers, most especially from Sam and Jess.

They wrap their arms around one another and confidently saunter back over to their friends. Strangers pat them on the back and wave their phones at them, and an overwhelming sense of dread fills Chris as he realizes dozens of people just witnessed and filmed him realizing he wants to fuck his best friend. 

Sure, to outsiders this was probably an open and shameless display of love and affection between partners, but he and Josh had literally never done anything like that before, and he’s still inwardly reeling from it. Thousands of repressed moments of lust, sharp pangs of want for his best friend that he’d either brushed off or written off as normal affection come rushing back to him all at once, and he spends the next few minutes in silent contemplation.

Ashley elbows him and comments on how he’s never usually this quiet, and he responds with a shrug and a half hearted chuckle. He moves away from her to the more comfortable companionship of Sam, Hannah and Beth.

“Hey,” Sam says quietly, “You doing okay?”

Chris just shrugs.

“We, uh,” she laughs, “We didn’t really know that was a thing, so thanks for telling us!”

Beth and Hannah nod in unison, and Beth says, “I never thought my brother would be that good at keeping secrets, and after my Big Gay Revelation, I don’t know why he   
would even think he had to keep something like that to himself.”

“Yeah,” Chris says flatly, “I guess a lot of us were in for surprises tonight.”

A moment of silence falls between the four of them, as they assess Josh, who is carrying on with Matt and Mike like nothing’s wrong, tripping up Emily who just shoves at him and laughs.

“Wait,” Sam says, barely containing her amusement, “You weren’t… you guys aren’t…”

“I knew it,” Hannah exclaims, “Josh is way too transparent to be fucking Chris under our noses this whole time.”

Beth shushes her and shakes her head, “So you guys just did that to piss off the protesters? Not exactly the poetic coming out story I’d hoped it was, but it’s still pretty ballsy you know?”

Chris shrugs, “It was really… entirely Josh’s idea. I just went along with it because, well. I don’t know.”

“Because you wanted to,” Sam acknowledges quietly, and Hannah gives her a look, “Well it’s true! Isn’t it?”

“I think so?” Chris says, “It all kinda happened at once, and I didn’t mind as much as I probably should have. I just never really let myself think about it before, I guess.”

Beth looks at him pityingly, “Okay, well that right there isn’t exactly a straight line of thinking, you know? It’s not a matter of ‘letting yourself think about it’. If you didn’t want to, it never would have occurred to you, you wouldn’t have to block those thoughts off at the pass, right?”

“It’s like… I don’t let myself think about Mike, because he’s happy with someone else,” Hannah supplies helpfully, “But um… you, for example, have never really occurred to me. No offense. You’re just too much like a brother to me.”

“More like a brother-in-law,” Beth snorts, and the three of them dissolve into laughter while Chris rolls his eyes in annoyance.

“Guys!” He finally yells, “Can we refocus. Gay panic here.”

The group splits up into smaller groups as they reach the covered stands along Main Street, where all the different beers and street foods are hosted. The four of them stay together, Ashley and Matt wander off as they’re not big drinkers, Em, Mike and Jess head further down to look at some maple-cured brew Jess was interested in, and Josh takes off on his own. 

They go unthinkingly to the nearest stand and Chris gets a plastic cup full of a local stout brew and a chili dog. They scout out a park bench and squeeze onto it together.

“Okay, so, gay panic,” Sam says helpfully, after taking a sip of beer. “I had one of those. It’s really weird to fall in love with someone that looks just like your best friend, you know?”

Chris laughs, “I have some idea.”

“Its why we started cutting our hair differently,” Hannah says, and Sam looks at her sideways for a moment before continuing.

“But like, if you were his impulsive first choice to drag out in the middle of a crowd and stick his tongue down your throat, it’s probably a good sign? Not being afraid of people thinking he’s gay with you is a good sign for sure. The worst possible recourse is that you guys have to clear up the misunderstanding that are bound to happen when besties make out. Best case scenario? You guys get to make out again.”

“So you’re saying,” Chris says between thoughtful bites of his chili dog, “That I should just talk to him about it?”

Sam nods, “Crazy idea, right? But things will only get worse and more complicated from here if you don’t,” she shoots Beth a meaningful look, “Trust me.”

After a few minutes of finishing his food and beer and thinking of what to say, Chris gets up, throwing away his trash before turning back and giving the girls a brave salute. 

Tracking Josh down isn’t hard. He’s stopped at the furthest cart, nursing a beer and sitting on the stair railing of a nearby building, looking for all the world like he belongs there. 

Chris just stands there for a few moments, taken aback about how breathless Josh makes him so suddenly. Everything he has planned to say goes out the window, and before he really realizes what he’s doing, he walking over.

“Hey,” Josh says, smiling slightly upon recognizing his friend.

“Hey,” Chris replies, breathless, before leaning forward and kissing him again.

Josh’s cup of beer falls to the ground with a splash and the crinkle of plastic hitting pavement. His hands are on Chris’ collar, pulling him closer. They pause for an occasional breath, never really parting. Without really realizing it, Chris has backed Josh into the nearest wall and slotted a thigh between his.

“You came to find me,” Josh says between kisses, sounding pleased.

Chris takes a step back, “Yeah. That’s right. I’m supposed to… we’re supposed to talk about what just happened. I need to, um. Well. What happened before, I liked it. 

Obviously. And I just, I think I’ve wanted that for a while, you know?”

“Me too,” Josh says, as if it were obvious, “Why else would I have kissed you in the first place?”

“Yeah,” Chris concedes, “Only it’s not something I let myself think about too much, so I kinda had to have time to process it, and I just. Wanted to talk it out before things got more complicated.”

Josh gives him a sweet, almost pitying smile, “Why do you think I went off on my own when we all separated?”

“Oh,” Chris says softly, “So some real thought went into this, huh?”

“I always knew you wanted me, Christopher, I was just waiting for a chance to help you see it” Josh purrs, before tipping his head back and laughing, “Not really. I’m just joshin’ ya. It was impulsive, I just had more time to think about it after it happened. And I decided that if you came after me, I was never gonna let you go.”

Chris kisses him again, “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“Good!” Josh says brightly, grabbing his hand and leading him back onto main street, “Because you owe me a beer, asshole.”


End file.
